1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to edge-illuminated devices and relates in particular to articles which employ edge-illuminated panels for visual-attraction enhancement. The invention has special relevance with respect to autonomous articles, such as greeting cards, medallions, dolls and plaques, where for practicality the illumination elements and energy sources must be article-self-contained.
It is to be noted, however, that while the subject invention will be described with reference to particularized embodiments and end uses, the invention is not limited to such embodiments and uses. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings of this specification will recognize additional implementations and utilizations within the invention's scope.
2. Insights Regarding Background Art
The present invention has been motivated in significant part by the perception that the visual attractiveness of a great variety of otherwise-autonomous articles could be significantly enhanced through the inclusion of edge-illuminated display panels.
For example, although self-lighted greeting cards are known in the art, these prior cards have typically been limited to point-type lighting effects achieved by means of essentially point-type devices such as discrete LEDs. Card-based distributed lighting effects in particular apparently have previously been achieved only by means of distributed arrays of the discreted lighting devices. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,363,081, 4,286,399 and 4,209,824.
It has furthermore been more-generally perceived that although edge-illuminated panels have in fact been previously utilized in a variety of devices including those which are autonomously-energized, this usage has typically been limited to the production of background lighting effects for superposed transparencies or liquid-crystal displays. The employability and dramatic effectiveness of edge-illuminated panels as self-projecting display elements in autonomously-energized environments apparently has not previously been recognized. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,573,766, 4,555,694, 4,385,343 and 4,059,916 and Swemer, Gerry E., "Fiber Optic Futures", Part II, Signs of the Times, December, 1983, pages 38-41.